Saturday, April 1, 2017
Mexico leads world in tarantula species Jalisco spider expect says tarantula's worst enemy is ignorance
Mexico leads world in tarantula species
Jalisco spider expect says tarantula's worst enemy is ignorance
Mexico can now lay claim to the title for having the largest number of tarantula species in the world.
That’s what Rodrigo Orozco Torres says, and he should know: Orozco Torres is the founder and operator of the Tarántulas de México Wildlife Management Unit (UMA) in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
Despite scientific literature still recognizing Brazil as home to the world’s greatest diversity of tarantulas, Orozco Torres says Mexico now has the greatest number of different species in the world “and we haven’t even scratched the surface.”
“Three years ago we were in second place but now we are easily beating Brazil.”
Orozco Torres’ website, Tarántulas de México, lists 66 species in Mexico.
The primary function of the tarantulas UMA, established in 2002, is to breed and raise the arthropods. It also educates and raises awareness about the hairy creatures, which Orozco Torres describes as timid animals that are harmless to humans.
“The tarantula’s worst enemy is ignorance,” he says. “The objective of the UMA is to reproduce Mexican tarantulas in captivity and also demystify everything that is erroneously believed about them.”
The spider specialist explained that by breeding Mexican tarantulas in captivity the demand for them as pets can be met and the ecological imbalance caused by their removal from their ecosystems can be avoided.
“I started breeding tarantulas with the aim of having 10,000-12,000 per year and I achieved that after five or six years,” Orozco Torres said.
Species raised in the center include several of the Brachypelma genus, which is native to Mexico. Tarantulas commonly known as the Mexican redknee, Mexican redleg and Mexican pink are all bred at the unit. The latter is native to Jalisco and is the country’s largest. All are popular in the pet trade.
There is also international demand for Mexican tarantulas. Swiss customs officials intercepted a man trying to smuggle 261 Mexican redknee tarantulas into the country at the Zurich airport in 2011.
In captivity a tarantula can live for up to 30 years. Sexual maturity is reached on average at eight years and a female can have up to 1,000 young per breeding cycle.
“However, only one of these will reach the adult stage,” Orozco Torres says. “A female that lives 30 years will have approximately eight or nine babies that grow into adults.”
He also noted that tarantulas have a very important role in the ecosystem as they eliminate insect plagues. “Arthropods are the most important animals on earth because they are everywhere. We depend on them 100%.”
The first reintroduction of tarantulas to their natural habitat is planned for 2018.
The Guadalajara UMA forms part of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources’ strategy for conservation of Mexico’s wildlife.
death-trap Pulmonia Keeping the vehicle on the road becomes life's work - See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/opinion/more-adventures-with-death-trap-pulmonia/#sthash.EP7jI5Cs.dpuf
More adventures with death-trap Pulmonia
Keeping the vehicle on the road becomes life's work
This is the third installment of My Mexican Death Trap Blues. My previous two columns describing the process of acquiring and painting a Pulmonia can be found in the archives of this fine publication.
My Captured Tourist Woman purchased her Pulmonia four years ago and delights in driving it between the times when multitudinous repairs are required to keep her death trap on the road.
Over the years I have heard the phrase “held together by nothing more than the smell of an oily rag.” However, it was four years ago when the full implication of that phrase descended on my troubled soul.
Had I not been a serious shade tree mechanic in my previous life, by now the Captured Tourist Woman would have abandoned the damn thing along the malecón with the keys and title sitting on the seat. But we do have a roomy cochera and I have plenty of tools, so I have made the constant resuscitation of her Pulmonia my life’s work.
Needless to say, she was gratified by my unselfish sacrifice to give up lawn bowling, tennis and badminton along with curling and snowboarding just so I could devote my remaining days to keeping her bucket of bolts rolling under its own power.
The mechanical trouble started on the second day of ownership, when my Captured Tourist Woman and I headed off on an evening drive. About 100 meters into our cruse she said, “This gear shifter doesn’t feel right.”
Being almost an expert on old Volkswagens, I reached over and gripped the shifter and stirred it around like a butter churner before it completely detached itself from the vehicle. With the complete shifting mechanism dangling from my hand, it dawned on me: this was the first chapter of a continuing saga which will suck up my free time like a black hole.
Fortunately, a new shifter mechanism was an easy bolt-on fix, and so far the easiest fix in the last four years.
One of my first attempts at bringing order to chaos was to make sense of the rat’s nest of electrical wires bound with miles of vinyl tape. One headlight was dim and the other flickered whenever I wiggled the light switch, and the total lack of fuses made me dreadfully nervous.
Then one day while trying to track a wire, it happened; it was like one of those scenes in Star Trek when the Klingons attack the Enterprise. I had sparks, smoke and noise like a pan of bacon frying.
Fortunately I was able to pull the battery cable before the fiberglass body ignited. After the smoke cleared and my heart rate descended to normal, I grabbed my cutters and removed what was left of every wire, bumper to bumper.
After a week of frenzied work, 40 meters of multicolored wire and a fuse block, she was back on the road again. I also took this opportunity to install an electronic horn with 12 animal sounds, 10 sirens and a loudspeaker the size of a microwave.
After running through all the sound options, the 150-decibel crowing rooster was by far the most impressive sonance of all, and it quickly became her signature refrain.
About two years after the questionable acquisition, I could no longer ignore the atrocious noise coming from the engine compartment; the exhaust system was rusted out and falling apart. The old system was cobbled together with ugly welds, heavy-gauge bailing wire and a few tubes that looked suspiciously like plumbing parts.
Since the tailpipe of a stock VW muffler would not clear the rear bumper, I needed to talk with a Pulmonia guru to find a proper solution. So I headed out to the fabled Mazatlán Pulmonia factory, a loose conglomeration of mechanics, welders and fiberglass fabricators spread over an acre of ground east of town.
As I pulled into an open area shared by the many stalls in this makeshift cooperative, I spotted a small group of Pulmonia drivers sharing a few Pacificos while standing around the carcass of a very dead Pulmonia. As I approached the group the conversation stopped as all heads turned; no one ever expects to see a gringo in this part of Mazatlán.
I elucidated to the group, in my clumsy Spanish, that I needed a muffler with a tailpipe that would clear the low bumper on a Pulmonia. I further explained it was my wife’s Pulmonia which needed the new exhaust system.
At the mention of a woman driving a Pulmonia, several laughed out loud, while the rest wore an incredulous smirk. Then an older man started into an elaborate dissertation with hand gestures and sound effects.
I listened as he described a beautiful blond woman piloting a golden chariot and when he suddenly mimicked a crowing rooster, I knew he was describing my woman’s flashy ride.
So now, wherever she goes, Pulmonia drivers will either honk or crow just to hear the return call of a 1,000-pound rooster echo through the streets of Mazatlán.
Bodie Kellogg describes himself as a very middle-aged man who lives full-time in Mazatlán with a captured tourist woman and the ghost of a half wild dog. If you wish to give him cold beer, large sacks of money or a piece of your mind, he can be reached at buscardero@yahoo.com.
Heven Zipolite Pinterest Heven Zipolite is just that. Complete bliss that leaves you definitely feeling like you are in heaven!
| Heven Zipolite
Heven Zipolite is just that. Complete bliss that leaves you definitely feeling like you are in heaven!
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Friday, March 31, 2017
Governor announces new resort project Grupo Lomas to build Nickelodeon resort and water park in Huatulco -
Governor announces new resort project
Grupo Lomas to build Nickelodeon resort and water park in Huatulco
A US $175-million tourist development for the resort town of Huatulco, Oaxaca, was announced yesterday during the Acapulco Tianguis Turístico, Mexico’s biggest travel trade show.
The mega-project will include a Nickelodeon resort and water park with 761 hotel rooms, five large pools and 13 restaurants with seating for 2,500 in Huatulco’s Bahía de Conejos.
The news was announced by Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa and representatives of the Mexican firm Grupo Lomas, who also referred to plans to improve air connectivity to the resort destination with new flights by its regional airline, MAYAir.
The company announced plans for Huatulco early last year after purchasing its Bahía de Conejos property, located near Secrets Resort & Spa. At that time it also said it planned to build a marina.
Murat said his administration will boost tourism as never before, pointing out that the industry is the state’s principal productive activity and represents the main source of income for close to 100 communities.
“We want to invite all of Mexico to come and get to know this special world that is Oaxaca,” said the governor, highlighting features such as its 550 kilometers of coastline and the greatest biodiversity in Mexico.
Murat also pointed out that Oaxaca is part of the Mayan route, a flagship project of the federal government during this year’s Tianguis that promotes the Mayan World route of the airline Aeromar, linking destinations in Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Yucatán and Oaxaca.
Source: Milenio (sp)
Visita Zipolite @visitazipolite pixsspot.net Visita Zipolite Zipolite es una playa que se disfruta al natural, ¡Visitala! | Promovemos el turismo en Zipolite http://www.visitazipolite.com. 460 posts.
Visita Zipolite @visitazipolite
Visita Zipolite Zipolite es una playa que se disfruta al natural, ¡Visitala! | Promovemos el turismo en Zipolitehttp://www.visitazipolite.com. 460 posts.
Puerto Escondido 08. marzo 2017 - Eventbu.com Puerto Escondido/ Zipolite / Mazunte 2017 in Puerto Escondido, Puerto Escondido Oax., venerdì, 28. aprile 2017 - Top Trip te invita a visitar 3 de las ...
| Puerto Escondido
Puerto Escondido/ Zipolite / Mazunte 2017 in Puerto Escondido, Puerto Escondido Oax., venerdì, 28. aprile 2017 - Top Trip te invita a visitar 3 de las ...
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Puerto Escondido/ Zipolite / Mazunte 2017 | Puerto Escondido Oax. | venerdì, 28. aprile 2017
Top Trip te invita a visitar 3 de las mejores playas del Pacífico mexicano: Puerto Escondido, Mazunte y Zipolite.
Visita *** nosotros uno de los destinos turísticos más hermosos de nuestro país, conocido por su vida nocturna y numerosas actividades ecoturísticas por realizar.
Incluye:
*Transporte redondo en autobús de lujo (seguro de viajero incluido)
* Hospedaje en hotel 4 estrellas *** uno de los mejores clubes de playa de Puerto Escondido.
*2 Pool Party *** Barra libre
*Actividades acuáticas (opcional)
Costo: $2550
Para mayores informes envía WA o llama a los teléfonos:
22 21 11 23 44
22 27 54 43 96
Visita *** nosotros uno de los destinos turísticos más hermosos de nuestro país, conocido por su vida nocturna y numerosas actividades ecoturísticas por realizar.
Incluye:
*Transporte redondo en autobús de lujo (seguro de viajero incluido)
* Hospedaje en hotel 4 estrellas *** uno de los mejores clubes de playa de Puerto Escondido.
*2 Pool Party *** Barra libre
*Actividades acuáticas (opcional)
Costo: $2550
Para mayores informes envía WA o llama a los teléfonos:
22 21 11 23 44
22 27 54 43 96
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Friday, March 24, 2017
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Zipolite...... AMAZING! Pinterest Playa Violin, a great little beach. See more... http://roadslesstraveled.us/las-palmas-resort-huatulco-mexico-cruising-sail-blog/ This beach in Huatulco ...
| Zipolite...... AMAZING!
Playa Violin, a great little beach. See more... http://roadslesstraveled.us/
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